


Story Time with Snufkin

by Quinn_The_Questionable



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, Heteronormativity, I made this on a whim, I think?, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Long One Shot, One Shot, Snufkin tells a story, idk what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28017147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinn_The_Questionable/pseuds/Quinn_The_Questionable
Summary: Snufkin tells a story about the time he was kidnapped into becoming a suiter. After the story Snufkin explains that he is not straight.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	Story Time with Snufkin

**Author's Note:**

> So I have no clue what this is but I had a lot of fun writing it! Sorry if at the end the characters are a bit out of character... Also I didn't realized how long it is haha. Anyways, hope you all enjoy!

Little My, Moomin, and Snufkin are gathered around Snuckin’s campfire. They had finished dinner earlier and decided it was a nice night to be outside. They had found Snufkin by his campfire finishing up his dinner. Moomin asked if they could join him and Snufkin obliged. They now just sat around the fire talking in the night air. 

“Wait… but how many times in total does that make it that you have been in jail?” Moomin asked Snufkin who had just finished telling a tale of one of the times he was arrested.

“Hmmm... I’m not quite sure. I try to avoid jail as much as I can so it couldn't have been that many.” Snufkin pondered.

“Now Snufkin, if I may ask, what do you think was the strangest citation you have found yourself in? Including being in jail or not.” Snorkmaiden decided to ask.

Before Snufkin could speak Little My started to yell, “I bet I know! He had found himself in a cave that in laid a monster that had teeth jetting out of everywhere! Not only that, the teeth were full of poison! And Snufkin either had to fight it or run away. He of course ran away because he would have died absolutely.” Little My gave a loud cackle looking at Snorkmaiden’s horrified face. 

“Little My! Don’t say such scary things! I doubt that type of monster even exists!” Snorkmaiden cried, gripping tightly onto Moomin’s arm.

“You don’t know that! There wouldn’t be any stories of them because everyone who encountered the beast died.” Little My chuckled.

“Now, Little My, I had not encountered such a beast.” Snufkin stated calmly.

“Then you can’t deny it's not real!”

“I can say that you don’t know if it's real either because you just made it up on the spot. If no one has ever survived meeting it then how do you know about it?” Snufkin questioned Little My who just sat down with a huff, knowing she had no argument.

“Snufkin, I am also curious about Snorkmaiden’s question! What was the strangest citation you had been in?” Moomin asked, changing the subject.

“That is quite a hard one… It may have to be the time I roped into being a suiter for this princess in this kingdom I was passing by. It was less roped and more like forced to be one.” Snufkin began, the story peaking everyone’s interest...

___________________________________

Snufkin was quite far south and was passing through some unfamiliar woods. He watched as the woods became thinner and thinner and he soon began to hear the sounds of creatures. Then he saw it, a great castle towering over the surrounding village. 

It was quite a big kingdom and Snufkin knew he would have some trouble going around and so, the only solution was to go through. He was running low on some supplies anyways and happened to have some currency on him.

He wandered through the village searching for the market. While wandering he noticed there was a decent amount of knights walking through the village. This did not seem normal in the slightest and so Snufkin decided to keep his head down. Even then he didn’t have a good track record with the government or authority figures. 

He eventually made it into the marketplace. It was a large, bustling street that was lined all the way down with vendors. It had more people then Snufkin is comfortable with but he just told himself it would be easier to hide in case some of his past crimes decided to sneak up on him.

Snufkin was in need of some spare fishing line since he was coming to the end of what he had. Wandering the street he eventually set his eyes on a small fishing stand which seemed to be owned by a large woman.

He approached the stand observing the goods and set his eyes on some spools of fishing lines. He felt the eyes of the women set on him. Then she decided to speak, “A fisher are ya?”  
“Oh yes.” Snufkin replied as he picked up a spool and unspooled it slightly and tested its strength to make sure he wasn’t about to get jipped.

“You're not from around ‘ere are ya? Where ya from?” She asked with an accent.

“Oh everywhere.” Snufkin spoke in a calm tone as he respooled the fishing line, it seemed pretty strong so he decided he would buy it.

“Oh a wander we have ‘ere do we? We’ll you better stay out of the knights sights.”  
“Oh? May I ask what is the reason for them walking through the village.” 

“The princess is in need of a suiter ya see. She has shooed away all of the ones she’s had. Picky little thing I tell ya. And so, the King has decided to round up any boys that are her age and aren’t unruly. Ya seem about her age so you better keep a lookout.”

“Ah, I see. Well I best be going as soon as I can. Just this please.” He stated with showing the spool.

“Ya know what, on the house! I like ya! Good luck with ‘em pesky knights.” The women exclaimed with a slight laugh. 

“Oh.. why thank you!” Snufkin normally wouldn’t have taken the offer but after hearing the story he needed to leave as soon as possible. He gave a wave to the woman and walked away.  
He kept his head down the rest of the ways through the village. He was almost through the village when he made the mistake up looking up to see the approximate time. And of course, of all times there was a knight to see him do so. The knight approached Snufkin and set his armored hand on his shoulder and stated, “You seem around the princess’s age, your coming with me boy.”

Snufkin attempted to escape but the armored hand on his shoulder tightened and he was soon being dragged towards the castle doors. He attempted to escape continuously but the knight was too strong and was much more equipped than Snufkin. 

He was soon into the castle and suddenly his pack and hat was being taken away by the knight and they were thrown to the side where a maid took them. Snufkin yelled, “Hey!” at his precious belongings being stripped away from him.

The knight simply replied, “You will have them back after the princess’s decision.” Snufkin huffed in response.

Then all at once he was taken by two maids who attempted to unclothed him and throw him into a tailored suit that was hanging on the wall. Snufkin was not happy at being declothed by strangers, or anyone at all. That was invading his privacy by way too much. 

He pushed the maids off and just decided to do it himself, he was in a locked room and had no clue where his precious belongings were. He just had to get through this horrible situation as quickly and as soon as possible. 

He begrudgingly put on the suit and one of the maids approached him, attempting to brush his hair. Snufkin stopped her and took the brush and just did it himself. While doing that he heard the door quickly open and close. Snufkin turned at the sound but he wouldn’t have made it to the door in time anyways. It turns out the reason for the opening of the door was because one of the maids had taken his clothes as well now.

Snufkin huffed and knew anymore escape attempts were out of the question since one, he was in a locked room that was probably guarded. Two, he didn’t know where his belongings were taken to and couldn’t waste time running around the castle searching.

After he put on the itchy suit, tight shoes and combed his hair the knight, or a different one (Snufkin couldn’t tell the difference) came to escort him through the castle. Snufkin begrudgingly followed while keeping an eye out to see where his things could have been taken. No luck. 

They made it to a long corridor that was lined with boys that seemed around his age and Snufkin was shoved to the end of the line. The line wasn’t that long so he could see the beginning of it. The line began at a large doorway that Snufkin could assume this princess was in. The corridor that he stood in was lined with more even more knights. This kingdom sure did have a lot of knights.

Snufkin wanted to escape but he knew he couldn’t. He just had to suffer through this situation. 

He watched as the line slowly moved forward and he stood there wondering if he was gonna be the last one or if more boys were going to be kidnaped. His question was soon answered when a slightly taller blackhaired boy was shoved into line behind him. 

Snufkin didn’t pay much attention to him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and the black haired boy asked, “Dude, what in the world was happening. One moment I was sitting on my porch then all the sudden I’m being hauled here and shoved into a suit.”

Snufkin shooed his hand off of his shoulder and replied, “I know the feeling, I was passing through when the same thing happened to me. Apparently this princess is in need of a prince and she is pretty picky. The castle resorted to kidnapping boys her age in order to find a prince.”

“Seriously? How inhumane! They just heard us like we're cattle? I knew this kingdom’s monarchy was powerful but I didn’t expect kidnapping kids powerful.”

“Oh? You seem to know more about this here kingdom, could you explain?” 

“Well I don’t know that much, I just moved her to live with my aunt. All I know is that the royal family here is ultra powerful including the princess. She gets everything she wants. Including whatever boy she wants apparently.”

“Hm... Interesting.”

“Oh, I’m Thomas by the way. Sorry about the sudden conversation, you were the first one to answer any of my questions.” Thomas stated, reaching out his hand.

“Snufkin.” Snufkin stated, shaking his hand.

By now the line had moved up quite a lot and a few boys were now following Thomas. Snufkin soon realized just how much they moved up and realized that he was next. 

Snufkin had decided just to do whatever is needed of him as calmly and as nicely as he can in order to avoid any conflict so he can leave as quickly as he can.

The boy in front of him entered with a shove of one of the guards in front of the door and Snufkin stepped forward and waited for his turn. Soon, from the inside he heard a girl yell, “Next!” 

One of the guards looked Snufkin square in the eyes and sharply stated, “Answer whatever the princess asks and don’t be rude!” And with that last word he was shoved into the room.

Snufkin stubbled with the shove and soon looked up to see where he now was. It was a large room which in sat a girl who had a crown daintily placed on her head, sitting on a tall throne which had stairs leading up to it. She was wearing a pastel purple lace dress that had some frills at the bottom. Snufkin was standing on a red carpet that led up to the princess and the carpet was lined with even more knights. Once again, this kingdom had a lot of knights. 

He took a few steps forward and approached the throne, giving space between him and the stairs leading to the throne.

The princess looked down her nose at him and exclaimed, “State thy name!”

Snufkin bowed when saying, “Snufkin, ma’lady.”

“I am Princess Seraphina and you must know why you have been brought here by now.”

“Yes m'lady, you are in need of a prince.”

“Oh yes, so now I shall ask some questions of thy. First, what is your status in the village?”

“Oh your majesty, I am not from the village. I was passing through when I was taken here.”

Then Snufkin hears from behind him two guards yell, “We are sorry your highness! We will remove him right away!”

Before they can do so the princess stops them and states, “Keep him, he is quite interesting.” The knights then step back into position and the princess asks another question, “Where do you come from then?”

“Everywhere, I travel from here to there.”

“Oh? So you don’t have a home then?”  
“No m’lady, I don’t enjoy that lifestyle.”

“Hm, tell me, how would you face a beast?”

“I would attempt to outsmart and confuse it into hiding.”

“Oh? A smart one hm? Any talents?”

“I am quite adept at playing the harmonica.”

“I would like to hear it.” The princess then turns to a doorway on the side and yells, “Retrive me a harmonica!” Snufkin took this short amount of time to realize something. This is taking longer then all the others did. Snufkin hoped that that didn’t mean that she had taken a liking to him. He was already feeling stuffy in this castle.

Soon another knight came through one of the side doors holding a harmonica. He approached Snufkin and handed it over to him. He took it into his hands and asked, “Any requests for what I shall play m’lady?”

“Play something you think I will enjoy.” 

Snufkin pondered for a moment and then slowly raised it to his lips and began to play. It was a smooth, almost boring, melody he had heard a long time ago. Of all the songs he had learned, that was one of his least favorites. He hoped by playing this the princess would deny him and he could finally leave this awful castle.

He finished and he sighed and looked to see the princess’s face. Oh no. Oh no no no she liked it. Why did she like it? That was supposed to sabotage him! Why oh why did she like it. Today was not Snufkin’s day.

She was sitting on the edge of her seat and was loudly applauding and her jaw was hanging open which turned into a wide smile when he looked at her.

“That was magnificent! Beautiful! Astonishing! You are him! You are my prince! You are the perfect one for me!” She stood up from her seat and ran up to him and coiled her arms around him. This was quite a personality change. Snufkin just stood there, shocked. He didn’t know what to do. He was not about to be the prince. No way. 

___________________________________

“WAIT A SECOND!” Snorkmaiden interrupted the story, startling Snufkin. She continued, “YOU ARE TELLING ME YOU ARE A P R I N C E!?!?! Why did you never tell me Snufkin!”

“SHUT IT SNORKMAIDEN I WANNA HEAR THE REST! And I doubt he actually became one.” Little My screamed at Snorkmaiden, who turned away with a huff and her arms crossed.

“Both of you, shush. Let Snufkin tell his story.” Moomin stated, addressing both of them.

“Thank you Moomintroll.” Snufkin said with a smile and he continued…

___________________________________

Suddenly every knight in the room began to applaud and Snufkin wanted so dearly to run away. Run as fast as he could until this kingdom was nothing but a memory. A memory Snufkin wished to erase. 

Seraphina pulled back with her hands on Snufkin’s arms, plastering them to his side. She turned her head to the side and yelled at the top of her lungs, rupturing Snufkin’s poor ear drums, “GO GET FATHER! HE WILL BE SO PLEASED!”

Two knights rushed out of the room and soon entered a very tall man. He seemed to be decently fit but a bit on the tubby side. He turned to look at him and his daughter and the princess exclaimed, “Look! I found him! He’s perfect!”

“So this is him? Hm…” The king looked up and down Snufkin, who was faking a smile, and then stated, “As long as he makes you happy, sweetie.” 

“Oh yes! He is handsome, smart and talented!” The princess moved her hands off Snufkin’s arms and down into his hands and began to twirl him around and Snufkin continued to fake a smile. 

“Tonight we feast! To congratulate my daughter on her engagement!” The kind exclaimed in a booming voice. Snufkin felt like he was going to throw up. He was engaged? That was an engagement? Oh dear, he really got himself into a pickle this time.

Seraphina stopped spinning Snufkin looked him in the eyes with a large smile and said, “Let me give you the grand tour of the castle! Come along!” Suddenly the princess was tugging Snufkin through a bunch of long 

She showed him the large dining room where they will be eating later, the study, the main throne room which in sat 3 more large thrones, larger than the one the princess was sat on earlier. After showing him all of the random rooms they made it to the garden outside. Snufkin took a deep breath, the first one in a while. The garden was decently large but it was still restricting, with a large stone, mossy wall surrounding it. For a split second Snufkin thought this was his escape, but nope. 

It was surprisingly quite a nice garden though. It was lush and prospering with life. Seraphina was just sort of looking at the vegetation, not noticing Snufkin’s infatuation and stated, “Let's go. It's boring and dull out here.” Snufkin was about to protest but realized with the amount of power she holds it would be best for him to stay on her good side. And so he followed her inside.

“And now! To finish up the grand tour! MY BEDROOM! Well.. now our bedroom.” She said with a smirk, clinging to Snufkin’s side. Snufkin still wanted to throw up, run away, or go invisible. But sadly he couldn’t do any of those at the moment if he wants to get out of here with his stuff.

The room was quite large, with a king sized bed to the right that was draped with thin, translucent curtains surrounding the sides and next to it were doors that looked like they opened to the closet. There was a set of doors that opened outside onto a balcony. The room was on the third floor so it was a decent ways down. There was a small sitting area in the center of the room and a chess table there as well. To the left was another set of doors that Snufkin could assume went to the bathroom.

“It's nice.” Snufkin said, trying to refrain from hesitation.

“I know right! Well now it's ours! Along with the rest of the castle! This will be the place we reside until our deaths! Forever together!” Princess Seraphina gripped onto his arms and looked up into his eyes warmly. The look was not reciprocated by Snufkin. He just gritted his teeth behind his fake smile. 

“It’s getting a bit late so dinner must be ready soon! Let's sit and talk for a bit before then!” She took him by the wrist and sat him down at the sitting area. 

Snufkin sat down begrudgingly, with Seraphina’s hand gripped onto Snufkin’s. He wanted to escape the hand holding but he had no chance, her grip was rock solid. He then looked over to the chess table and decided to ask, “I assume you play?”

“I know how but it's much too boring for my taste. So dull.” Seraphina stated, rolling her eyes. 

“I see, then how do you spend your time Seraphina? May I call you that?”

“Oh yes, it sounds quite nice coming out of your mouth.” She said while scooting closer, “And for how I spend my time I very much enjoy shopping! Clothes, makeup, shoes, anything like that, I love it. Making rules is also a good pastime.”

“I see, how… interesting.”

“I know, I am very interesting.” Her face had gotten even closer to Snufkin’s and right at that moment the door swung open.  
“Dinner is ready.” A young maid stated from the door with her hands behind her and with a smile. Snufkin was relieved, she just saved him from something horrible 

“KNOCK NEXT TIME!” The princess yelled, face red with anger. 

“S-sorry.” The young maid said quietly and bowed, leaving quickly.

“So where were we?” Seraphina asked, looking back at Snufkin.

“Oh good, dinner is ready. I am quite peckish.” Snufkin avoided the question, standing up.

Seraphina huffed and stood up and said, “I guess I am a bit too, lets go.”

They then walked down to the dining room, side by side (not by Snufkin’s choice.) They then made it to the room and a butler opened one of the doors, allowing them to enter. 

The room consisted of a long wooden table with chairs lining the sides. The king was already set at one of the ends of the table. He motioned for Snufkin and Seraphina to come his way, and so they did.

Snufkin sat next to the king and Seraphina sat next to Snufkin and scooted her chair slightly closer to his. As they sat down, three butlers came through the side doors, each carrying a plate with a copesh on them. They set them down in front of the three of them and lifted the copeshes practically perfectly in sync.

The copeshes opened to a wide variety of food. At least Snufkin’s was. HIs plate was filled with a variety of meat, vegetables and various side dishes. The king’s and the princess’s plates seemed more specific, probably tailored to what they like. They also set down glasses of water at each plate.

They all began to eat. Snufkin took a few bites every now and then but wasn’t really feeling like eating. He didn’t really have much of an appetite. He just drank his water mostly.

They sat in silence, chewing for a while until the king decided to question Snufkin, “So, boy, do you have an occupation in the village?”

Before Snufkin could answer, Seraphina decided to answer it herself, “He isn’t from the village! He is a traveller!”

“Oh is that so? Then what about your parents? Do you go back to visit them?”

“I don’t know who my parents are. That's all there is. I know they exist or existed but that's all I know. I have been traveling for as long as I can remember.”

“THAT'S SO SAD!” The princess exclaimed, looking at Snufkin with tear filled eyes.

“No- No it's quite alr-” 

Before Snufkin could finish Seraphina interrupted him by wrapping her arms tightly around him and practically screaming into his ear, “YOU NEED A HUG, ITS OK WE ARE YOUR FAMILY NOW!”

Snufkin tensed up under the hug, trying so hard not to shove her away.

“She’s right son, you are now part of the family! Someday, the king! You will make a great king! I trust my daughter and she chose you so you must be great!”

Snufkin felt so dizzy. All of this talk about ruling was making him sick to the stomach. He knew he was going to escape soon, tonight perhaps, but the thought still made him ill.

Snufkin then looked up, with a fake smile at the king and asked, “May I use your restroom?”

“Oh yes, when you go out the doors make a left, then it is the second door on your right.”

“Thank you.” Snufkin responded and then began to stand when the princess looked up to him with puppy-dog eyes.

She looked at him, clinging to his arm and said, “No! Don’t leave me! We have barely spent any time together!”

Snufkin’s eye twitched and through his gritted teeth he managed to say, “I won’t be long.” Seraphina then slowly let go of his arm, allowing him to leave. He got out of the chair and pushed it in before exiting through the main doors.

He followed the king’s instructions and walked down the hall. While walking he kept a small smile on just in case one of the unlimited number of knights saw him and thought he was acting suspicious.

He made it to the bathroom and opened the door, walked in and closed and locked it behind him. He then slid down the door with a long sigh finally letting his face relax without the constant smile. 

The bathroom was decently large, with a large bath with an equally large window over it right when you enter. To the right was a counter with a sink and a large shower. To the left was just a wall with some shelves.

Snufkin sat at the ground for a little while, trying to collect himself but he also had to stay aware of the time. If he sat there for any longer he would become suspicious. He then got up and then eyed the window. He stepped into the tub in order to reach the window and tried to open it. No luck. It doesn't seem like it was made to be opened, only looked out of. Snufkin sighed and stepped out of the bath and washed his hands and left.

He walked back down the hall to the dining room. He entered the room and Seraphina immediately looked at him with a smile.She jumped out of her seat and ran up to him and hugged him tightly and said, “Your back! You were gone for forever!”

Snufkin gave another fake smile over some gritted teeth and said, “I was only gone for a few minutes.”

“I know! Forever!” 

“Why don’t we go finish dinner?”

“As long as I am still close to you!” Seraphina said with a smile and turned her hug just into gripping onto one of his arms. 

Snufkin gave another gritted smile and they walked over to their seats and began to eat once again. Well Snufkin wasn’t really eating he was just poking as the food on his plate.

After a few minutes of silence Snufkin looked up to the king and asked, “When I first arrived here all of my belongings including my clothing was taken away. Could I get those back soon?”

“Oh yes! I will have them delivered to my daughter’s room which is where you will be staying correct?”

Before Snufkin could ask for a different room the princess responded with, “Yup!” The king then waved over a butler and told him to get Snufkin’s stuff to which he immediately headed out the door presumably to do so. 

They finished eating and those same butlers came back and took their plates and glasses and the three of them stood up and went for the door. 

Before they went their separate ways Seraphina and her father exchanged a hug and a good night and Snufkin gave a wave and a goodnight to the king. 

Seraphina was holding Snufkin’s hand as they walked down the hall and Snufkin gave a fake smile everytime she looked up at him. 

They made it to the princesses room and next to the door and went inside and Seraphina turned on the lights. On the inside setting next to the door was Snufkin’s pack with his boots, pants, undershirt, jacket, and of course, his precious hat. Snufkin had never been so happy to see his stuff.

Snufkin then kneeled down next to his stuff and began to go through his bag to make sure everything was there. As he went through it he felt a presence approach him and the only person it could be was of course, the princess. 

She bends down next to Snufkin and looks into Snufkin’s bag with a curious look and asks, “So this is your stuff? This is everything? Everything you own is right here?”

“Yup, everything I need and will ever need is right here.”

“Really? But it’s all dirty and old and who told you this is all you need!”

“I think it gives each item character, and I told myself that.”

“Seriously? Well that's gonna have to change! Tomorrow. You. Me. Shopping. We are gonna get you all new stuff! To replace these old rags you call clothes…”

Snufkin gritted his teeth trying so hard not to talk back, he just has to withstand this a little longer. He took a breath and calmly responded, “Okay.”

“Good! I can’t wait!”

“Neither can I…” Snufkin stated, still looking at his stuff. Everything was there and so he put everything in order. Before closing the bag he opened his tent slightly to examine it, it looked the same as well. Snufkin gave a small sigh of relief and set his tent on the top of the bag and strapped it in. 

He looked over to his clothes, picking up his hat and examining it as well. It still looked the same and Snufkin placed it on his head. He never thought it would feel so good to wear his hat. He looked at the rest of the clothing, the rest of it seemed to have been cleaned. His shoes were scrubbed of any mud or dirt, his undershirt was a bright white instead of a pale brown. His coat and pants were also scrubbed clean of any grim. He didn’t mind the cleaning all that much, he mostly disliked the fact that everything smells so overwhelmingly sweet. He missed the nature smell oh so much.

His thoughts were interrupted when his hands were suddenly grabbed and he was pulled up to a standing position, facing Seraphina who gave a smile and said, “Don’t worry! You won’t have to deal with those old grimy clothes anymore! You will only be wearing the most proper of clothing! But for now we must dress for bed! There are some clothes one the bed for you to put on, I will be dressing in my closet and you may use the bathroom. I thought it would be right for us not to see eachother unclothed until we are married!”

Snufkin felt increasingly nauseous, his knees felt like they were about to buckle and he would faint but no, not now he told himself. He responded to the princess with a smile and she took that as a good enough response and slowly took her hands out of Snufkin’s and began to walk to the closet. Once the doors had been closed Snufkin approached the bed and picked up the clothing and began to walk towards the bathroom. 

He entered the bathroom and shut and locked the door behind him. He sighed heavily upon entry. The bathroom was just as large and similar as the one he was in earlier but was just lacking the large window. He set the clothing on the sink counter and examined the clothing. 

It seemed to be just a light blue, silk, button-up shirt and matching trousers. He set his hat on the counter beside the clothes. Before putting on the clothes he took some time to examine himself in the mirror. He could hardly recognize himself. He didn’t notice how different he looked earlier since he was trying to not throw up. He examined his uncanny resemblance. His face looked like it had never seen the sun before, the clothing looked as tight as it felt, his hair was way too neatly combed back and it overall just looked wrong on him. How could anyone find this appealing? 

Snufkin just sighed again and began to change into the provided clothing.

Once changed again he looked back into the mirror and scrunched up his face in almost disgust. This outfit was not any better. He then looked at his perfectly groomed hair and gave the same face to it. It looked so wrong and it felt so uncomfortable. Hair wasn’t supposed to feel uncomfortable. 

In defiance he ruffled up his hair until it looked and felt like it should. And that look was a mess. A perfect mess. Snufkin smiled, this was one small step to escaping this place. Defiance.

He set his hat back onto his now ruffled hair and exited the bathroom, finding Seraphina sitting on one of the couches. At the sound of the door she stood up and turned around with a big smile. She was wearing a long, flowing light pink nightgown and her long blond hair was taken from the bun it was previously in and was brushed out and tucked behind her ears. 

She gleefully approached him and stopped a bit to close for comfort and looked him up and down and said, “You look amazing!” She then tilted her head up to his hat and scrunched up her face and said, “except for that.. Your ruining the whole look with that nasty hat of yours!”

Seraphina reached up to grab it but before she could do so Snufkin took a large step back, in order to both stop her from taking it and stop himself from committing a crime. That was too far, he thought. He then decided right then and there that he was absolutely leaving that night, no matter what. He then took the hat off himself and walked over to the rest of his clothing and placed it next to it. 

Seraphina just huffed at this action and mumbled something to herself and walked over to Snufkin and asked, “How do I look?” while twirling her nightgown. 

“Amazing.” Snufkin managed to say through gritted teeth and a twitching eye. 

“Awww! Thank you!” She then got up right next to Snufkin, latching onto his arm again. She looked up into his eyes and said, “Come! Let’s go to bed! Our first night together after being engaged!”

“And meeting each other...” Snufkin quietly grumbled.

“What was that?” 

“Nothing!” 

“Anyways, let us sleep the night away together.”

Seraphina, still holding onto Snufkin, walked over to the lightswitch and flicked it off, causing the room to be in complete darkness other than a small candle on the bedside. They then walked towards the bed, Seraphina letting go of Snufkin, allowing him to go around the opposite side of bed. The both climbed into the bed, beneath the sheets. Snufkin laying on his back and the princess on her side, facing Snufkin. She then whispered to him, “Goodnight my love.” Before blowing out the candle. 

Snufkin laid in wait for the princess to fall into a deep sleep. He pondered how he would enact his escape. He thought on it for what felt like hours and came up with a plan. 

Seraphina was sleeping like a log and now was Snufkin’s chance.

He began by quietly creeping out of the bed and he set his sights on his stuff on the other side of the room. He quietly made his way over there, trying his hardest to make as little to no noise as possible. He approached his bag and quietly slid it onto his shoulders. Any clank or shuffle he made he would immediately dart his eyes over to the sleeping figure, hoping to not wake her up. He then reached down and grabbed his clothing.

His next objective was to enter the closet. He snuck his way back over to the bed and set his hand on the doorknob. He opened the doors as quietly as possible and slowly made his way inside to find a large room with walls covered in hanging clothes and drawers. He hoped that there would be some extra sheets that he could create a rope with. 

He slowly closed the door behind him and began to slide his hand on the wall next to the door, looking for a lightswitch. His hand eventually hit something which turned out to be the switch he was looking for, he flicked it on, being momentarily blinded by the immense light. His eyes eventually adjusted and he began to look for any extra sheets 

He scanned the bright and colorful room, he made his way through and eventually saw them. Sheets tucked away at the very top of the furthest wall. He stared at them, wondering how he would get up there. He scanned the room once again, hoping to find anything useful.

There was no step stool or anything that could give him extra heights so he eventually came up with an idea. He found a box of old wire hangers tucked away in a corner and began to quietly undo them from their normal hanger shape. He then twisted the two together and made a slight hook at the end. 

He reached his tool upwards towards the sheets and after a couple tries he managed to get the hook on them and he quickly pulled the tool back, causing the sheets to cascade into Snufkin’s now open arms. He caught most of them and slowly lowered them to the ground. 

He spread out the sheets, preparing them to be knotted together. Before Snufkin began knotting he decided to put on his normal clothes. 

He slipped on all of his comfortable clothing, tightly tied his shoes and finally, sat his hat back on his head. He gave a sigh of happiness of being in his clothing. He had never been so happy to be in his clothes, the only difference in his clothing from before was the earthy smell was replaced by such repulsive sweetness, but Snufkin knew how to fix that. Once he was far, far away from this kingdom he could finally be peaceful again.

After a second of just enjoying his clothing he set back to work, sitting on the ground and tying all of the sheets together. He had more than enough material to reach the ground so the extra he just set to the side, deciding not to deal with it. By the time someone sees them he’ll be long gone. 

He tested the strength of each knot as he tied them, making sure they wouldn’t break. 

After a few minutes of tying, he eventually got a sufficient rope. He stood up and gathered all of the makeshift rope into his arms and turned off the light in the closet and crept his way back out of the closet, closing the door as he left. His eyes darted over to the princess, relieved that she was still fast asleep.

He quietly made his way to the balcony doors and slowly opened the door and snuck his way onto the balcony. He took a deep breath in, enjoying the fresh air and began to tie the end of the rope to the railing. 

He looked to the door one last time and smiled, he was finally leaving after such a long day. He began to climb down the rope, slowly making his way down.

He was near the bottom and hopped down from the rope and began to run. He ran faster then he ever had before. He ran through the surrounding forest and continued to run until the kingdom was nothing but a bad, faint memory. He was free again and he was never going to be captured like that again…

___________________________________

“...The End.” Snufkin simply stated, finishing his story.

“That was wonderful Snufkin!” Moomin exclaimed, smiling at Snufkin.

“Yes, it really was! Oh, how I wish I was in that girl’s shoes… But not as rude as she was, she was not kind at all!” Snorkmaiden stated promptly.

“If I was in your situation I would just bite them till they threw me out, works like a charm!” Little My chuckled.

“Wait… Snufkin, you never formally broke off the engagement right? Does that mean you're still engaged?!” Moomin asked, coming to that realization.

“I don’t believe so… I heard at some point she finally gave up on me and took my leaving as me saying I want to break it off, which was entirely the truth. I guess I was technically engaged to her for a couple years then.”

“Oh, that's good…” Moomin said, with a sigh of relief.

Snorkmaiden’s head suddenly perked up and she looked to Moomin and whispered something into his ear. In response to the whisper he shook his head no. 

“What secrets are you telling over there? Come on! Spill it!” Little My suddenly spoke up, staring at Moomin and Snorkmaiden with a suspicious glare.

“Well… I realized something and I wanted Moomin’s clarification on it! We had realized that, Snufkin,” She turned to look at Snufkin, “ we have never heard a story of yours about romance! Have you ever saved a sweet princess from a tower and fell in love? Or rescued your dearly beloved from her captors? Or even just fell for a girl?”

Snufkin’s only response was, well, laughter. It started off as a giggle and turned into a full on belly laugh. The group looked at him with confused and slightly concerned looks.

“Great, you broke him!” Little My exclaimed, looking to Snorkmaiden.

After a little longer of Snufkin laughing and concerned looks Snufkin finally was able to calm down enough to give a proper answer

“Sorry, it’s just that, what makes you assume I have fallen for a girl in the first place?

“You had to have at some point! There’s not a single boy out there who hasn’t fallen for a girl!” Snorkmaiden exclaimed.

“Oh, why there are probably numerous boys who haven’t fallen for a girl. But that doesn’t mean they have never loved someone in that way.”

Moomin and Snorkmaiden gave Snufkin a confused look and Little My had a feeling where this was going.

“You see, I don’t like girls in that way, I like boys.” Snufkin explained simply.

Moomin and Snorkmaiden sat in awe, after being hit with something they had never thought of before. 

Eventually Moomin spoke up, “To be honest, I didn’t know you could do that.”

“And why couldn’t you?” Snufkin asked.

“I… I don’t know.” Moomin said with an inquisitive look on his face

Little My knew, she knew most things and couldn’t believe that Moomin and Snorkmaiden didn’t know. She made fun of them for it for a while afterwards.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading!


End file.
